Device for operating car couplers



July 19, 1927. I a a BoNsA-L'L- 1,636,164

DEVICE FOR OPERATING CAR COUPLERS Filed 001;- 24, 1924 Inventor:CharleJDfi all Patented July 19, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

CHARLESD. BONSALL, OF NEW KENSINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO UNIONMETAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPOBATION F DELA-WARE.

DEVICE FOR OPERATING CAR COUPLERS.

Application filed October 24. 1924. Serial No. 745,635.

It is to'be understood that the invention is not limited to the exactdetails of construc tion shown and described, as it is obvious thatvarious modifications thereof within the 6 scope of the claims willoccur to persons skilled in the art.

This particular invention relates towhat is generally known in the artas a rotating type of uncoupling device for car couplers 10 andcomprises an operating rod revolubly mounted on the car with brackets orin any other convenient manner; which rod. is usually bent downwardly atthe outer end to form a handle, and is bent outwardly at its inner endto form a crank, projecting over the coupler, which crank is providedwith a horizontally positioned eye with its axis perpendicularto thelongitudinal center of the car. The standard vertical plane coupler hasa knuckle pivoted to the coupler head and provided with a tail behindwhich the lock is placed. The lock lifterprotrudes through and above thecoupler head and is provided with a horizontally positioned eye." Thislock lifter eye is 1% in diameter and its axis is perpendicular to thelongitudinal center of the car. This size and position has beendetermined by the American Railroad Association and is in service.

My invention resides in the connection between the eye on the crank ofthe operating rod and the eye on the coupler lock 5 lifter. When thehandle is raised the rod is revolved and the crank is thereby raisedother or from either the coupleror the opcrating rod. It is frequentlynecessary to uncouple cars when they are coupled to gcther and incontact so that it is impossible to throw the knuckle of either coupler.To meet this condition couplers are designed to assume a lock setposition wherein the lock lifter can be raised from behind the standardfor the majority of couplers now.

tail of the knuckle and retained in such a position by means within thehead of the coupler independent of the operating rod.

This allows the operating rodto fall close to the locklifter. vToaccommodate such a movement the connection between the operating rodcrank and the coupler must foreshorten, which is accomplished by makingit of several parts which collapse by. means of a hinge joint or asliding connection. to each other, or,.as in my design, the componentparts are pivotally and slidably connected. The operating rod,. as abovedescribed, is old and in use on hundreds of thousands of cars new inexistence. Such rods hada short chain connectingthe crank arm to thelock lifter of the coupler which chains proved unsatisfactory and wereresponsible for a little more than half of the defects for uncouplingmechanism reported by the Interstate Commerce Commission. These chainswere defective because they were broken, missing, kinked andeither toolong or too short. v

One'ofythefobjects of this inventionv is.

to provide a connection between the rod and the coupler which willeliminate the defects of the old chain and. meet all service conditionsrequired. These short chains were broken by fall- "ing behind thecoupler horn and being smashed between the coupler horn and thestrikingcasting by impact of the cars in coupling. "The device isdesigned so that the component parts cannot become disconnectedfrom eachother or from the operating rod or the coupler. The connection be tweenthe component parts and also their connections to the operating rod andthe coupler are suchthatthe device. cannot become kinked. Formerly whena brakeman wanted a small chain to repair one of the old connections hesimply guessed as to the amount of chain required and applied it'to thecanwhich accounts forthe number of too long and too short chainsreported by the commission. This is not possible with my device. r

Another object is. to provide a connection which may be hooked. into theeye of the coupler lock'lifter with the hooked member connected tothecrank of the operating rod by another member which permits it. toadapt itself to the various service movements of the coupler butprevents it from becoming disengaged from the lock litter in service.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device wherein thecomponent parts are identical and duplicates, therefore,interchangeable. Duplication, of course, also sim-. plifies manufacture,handling, accounting, etc.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which can beassembled at the point of manufacture and shipped a unit to the point ofapplication to a car and which can be applied to the car by a verysimple operation which requires no special tools or appliances.

Another object is to obtain a device wherein the component parts areduplicates so that they cannot be wrongfully applied to the car or toeach other.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a car with my inventionapplied thereon. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the connector.

Fig. 3 is a side View of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4t is an elevation of a modification oi? Figs. 2 and 3 with aslidable connection.

Fig. 5 is a side view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 istwo pairs of members per F 4 and 5 in assembled open position.

Fig. 7 is the connector per Figs. t and in a partially collapsedposition and also, shows the slidable connection between the pairs ormembers.

Fig. 8 is a detail of the hook to show the lips and notches forretaining the members in'closed position. 7' 1 In a railway car theoperating rod 1 is mounted on the end sill2 by brackets 3. The usualoperating rod had a handle 4 and a crank arm 5 which arm has ahorizontally disposed eye 6; The lock lifter 7 of the coupler 8 also hasa horizontally disposed eye 9. and my invention resides in acounectorfor these two mentioned eyes.

The device comprises two pairs of complementary hooked and preferablyduplicate members. The members of each pairare shaped to be positionedopposite each other to form a closed eye.

The two upper members may be hooked into the eye Got the operating rodcrank arm and moved opposite each other to form a closed eye 14.-. Thetwo lower members may likewise be hooked into the eye 9 of the couplerlock litter and moved opposite eachother to'torm a closed eye (15). The

two pairs of members (upper and lower) are then connected together bypivot 10. So

that the device may be shipped as a unit from the factory, it may beadvisable to fasten the four component parts together by the rivet 10,whichis a pivot, so that the pairs of members may be moved to openposition, as shown in Fig. 6, for connection to the crank arm and looklifter, respectively, and then moved to closed position, as shown inFigs. 2 and 4:. The members are held in closed position by the lips 11which have slits 16 on either side of them so they may be bent toengagethe corresponding notches 12. (See F ig. 11.) In the constructionshownin Figs. 2 and 3 the members are provided with round holes so thatthe pairs to move opposite each other to form a closed eye, and meansfor detachably securing each pair of said complei'i'ientary members inthe position forming a closed eye.

2. A connector for a railway car coupler and its o] )erating rodcomprising two pairs 01" complementary members, each, pair 0tcomplementary members pivotally connected by a pin to move opposite eachother to form a closed eye,'said pin also pivotally connecting saidpairs of members together, and means for detachablysecuring each pair ofsaid complementary members in the position of a closed eye.

3. A connector'for a railway car coupler and its operating rodcomprising two pairs of complementary members, each .pair ofcomplementary members pivotally connected by a pin to move opposite eachother to form a closed eye, said pin also slidably connecting said pairsof members together, and means for detachably securing each pair of saidcomplementary members in the position of a closed eye.

4. A connector for a railway car coupler andit operating rod comprisingtwo pairs of complementary members, each pair of complementary memberspivotally connected by a pin to move opposite each other to form aclosed eye, said pin also pivotally, slidably connecting said pairsofmembers together, and means for detachably securing each pair of saidcomplementary members in the position of a closed eye.

5. A connector for a railway car coupler and its "operating rod,comprising a plurality of members arranged in pairs, each member havinga hook at one end and a hole at its opposite end, the hooks of each pairof members positioned complem'entarily to Figs. 6 and 7 shows how 1. Aconnector for a railway car coupler iii 1 ill) lltl 1,ase,164

move to form closed-eyes at the opposite ends of the connector, a pinrotatively engaging all of said holes, means for retaining each pair ofsaid members in the position of a closed eye, and means to hold'said pinin place.

6. A connector for a'railway car coupler and its operating rod,comprising a plurality of members arranged in pairs, each member havinga hook at one end and an elongated hole at its opposite end, the hooksof each pair of members positioned complementarily to move to formclosed eyes at the opposite ends of the connector, a pin rotativelyengaging all of said holes, means for retaining each pair of saidmembers in the position of a closed eye, and means to hold said pin inplace.

7. A connector for a railway car coupler and its operating rod,comprising a plurality of duplicate members arranged in pairs, eachmember having a hook at one end and an elongated hole at its oppositeend, hooks of each pair of members positioned complementarily to move toform closed eyes at the opposite ends of the connector, a pin rotativelyengaging all of said holes, means for retaining said members in theposition of a closed eye, and means to hold said pin in place. a

8. A connector for a railway car coupler and its operating rod, saidconnector comprising complementary members pivotally connected togetherto move opposite each other to form a closed eye, with integral means toretain said members in the position of a closed eye.

9. A connector for a railway ear coupler and its operating rod,comprising four said pin also connecting said pairs of members together.

10. A connector for a railway car coupler and its operating rod,comprising four identical members, which are secured together to formtwo pairs of complementary members, each pair of complementary memberspivotally connected by a pin to move opposite each other to form aclosed eye, said pin also connecting said pairs of members together, andmeans for detachably securing each pair of said complementary members inthe position of a closed eye.

11. In a railway car, the combination of an operating rod mounted uponthe car having a horizontally disposed eye, a coupler with a lock lifterhaving a horizontally disposed eye, a connector therefor comprising twopairs of complementary members, each pair of complementary vmemberspivotally connected by a pin to move opposite each other, to form aclosed eye, said pin also pivotally connecting said pairs of memberstogether, said eye engaging the lock lifter eye and operating rod eye,respectively, and means for detachably securingeach pair ofcomplementary members in the position of a closedeye.

CHARLES D, BONSALL.

